McMullen Co. TX - Indian Depredation Claim of William J. Askins - 6929
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Court of Claims of the United States
Indian Depredation, No. 6929
WILLIAM J. ASKINS v. THE UNITED STATES ET AL.
Deposition of William J. Askins, for claimant, taken at Howe, Ind. T.,
on the 10th day of November, A. D. 1900.
Claimant's counsel, Wright Pickett, Esq.,; defendants' counsel, Joseph
W. Nichol, Esq.
WILLIAM J. ASKINS, claimant in the above styled and numbered cause,
after first being duly sworn to testify to the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, testified as follows:
Question. State your name, age, occupation, and post office.
Answer. William J. Askins; 45; coal miner; Howe, Ind. T.
Question. You are the claimant in this case of William J. Askins
against the United States Government for Indian depredations, No.
6929?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Where were you living in the month of August, 1865?
Answer. McMullen County, Tex.
Question. What was your occupation at that time?
Answer. Raising stock.
Question. Now, this is a suit for the loss of some horses and mares
and a stallion during the month of August, 1865; just make a statement
as to the number, sex, condition of the horses, their ages, value, and
brand.
Answer. There was 35 mares, valued at $50 a head, and 1 stallion; all
in good sound condition; they were Steel Dust and Morgan stock.
Question. About what ages?
Answer. Young animals; none of them old; run from 3 to 6 years old.
Question. Were they branded?
Answer. Yes; C.A. on the left shoulder.
Question. Were they all the same kind of stock?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What color?
Answer. Bays and brown color; just the color of Morgan and Steel Dust
horses.
Question. Were you acquainted with the market value of such horses at
that time?
Answer. No, sir; but I know what these horses cosst.
Question. Well, what were these horses worth?
(Above question objected to because witness did not qualify as to
market value.)
Answer. $100 a head.
Question. You put them in at $50?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. But you say now they were worth $100 each?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What was this stallion worth?
Answer. $500.
Question. At the time these horses were taken were they on the ranch
or in a pen?
Answer. The horses were in a pen and the stallion in a shed.
Question. Do you know of any other witnesses who saw these horses in
the pen?
Answer. Yes, sir; several - Charley Askins, Frank Askins (my
brothers), Jim Musgraves, the Lanes, Walkers, and Lawhorns.
Question. What became of these horses?
Answer. They drove them off.
Question. They?
Answer. The Indians; and we never got any of them with the exception
of one mare and a colt.
Quesiton. Did you see the Indians?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Were they taken in the night?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you follow them?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long had the horses been gone before you discovered it?
Answer. We knowed it right at the time; we had a fight with them.
Quesiton. How many horses or mares did they take?
Answer. Thirty-six mares and the stallion. One of the mares came back
next day and had a rawhide Indian rope on her; and Capt. Benevetas,
captain of the Texas State Rangers, found the colt on the trail.
Question. Did they take the stallion at the same time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. With the exception of this mare and colt you did not recover
any of these horses?
Answer. That is all.
Question. Were you the owner of the stock at the time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was there any incumbrance, mortgage, or lien on them at the
time.
Answer. No, sir.
Question. I believe you said they were taken in the nighttime?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You don't know of your own personal knowledge, other that
what you have stated, whether the Indians took this stock or not?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. You saw the crippled Indian on the trail?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You say this property was in your possession at the time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You are a citizen of the United States?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You have never received pay for this stock?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did any of your neighbors lose any horses or stock at the
same time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Who were they?
Answer. Hines lost some horses, and all these other names I have given
lost horses in the same raid.
Cross-examined by J. W. NICHOL, special United States attorney:
Question. Mr. Askins, where were you living at the time this stock was
taken?
Answer. McMullen County, Tex.
Question. What part of the State is that?
Answer. Southwestern part.
Question. What is the county seat of McMullen County?
Answer. Tilden.
Question. Can you locate the ranch or place where you were living at
the time?
Answer. Yes, sir; on Walker's place, about 12 miles west of Tilden,
the county seat.
Question. You were living there at the time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you own the land?
Answer. No, sir; nobody owned land at that time; it belonged to the
State of Texas.
Question. You were simply living there on land belonging to the State?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you have any house there?
Answer. Yes; ranch house and corral.
Question. What year was this?
Answer. August, 1865.
Question. How do you fix the date? What enables you to know that it
was in August, 1865?
Answer. I remember it because a man was killed there the night the
horses were taken.
Question. What was his name?
Answer. Hines.
Question. You fix the date from that?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long after the close of the Civil War was it?
Answer. It was the summer of the close of the war.
Question. You are pretty sure that it was in August, 1865?
Answer. Yes, sir; I know it was; it was about the 19th day of August.
Question. How far was this stock from the ranch house when it was
taken.
Answer. About 150 yards.
Question. What care had you taken to protect the horses from the
Indians - to keep them from being stolen?
Answer. We had them in the pens there.
Question. Was any of the stock hoppled [sic]?
Answer. No, sir; it was all in the pen.
Question. How large was this pen?
Answer. About a quarter of an acre, I suppose.
Question. How many horses did you have in there?
Answer. Thirty-six mares, and the stallion was in a shed.
Question. How far was the shed from the pen?
Answer. I reckon about 20 yards.
Question. Did anyone else have any stock in the pen that night?
Answer. Yes, sir; Lane and Hines.
Question. Where is Lane and Hines.
Answer. Hines lives at Pleasanton, Tex., and Lane at Austin, Tex.
Question. They had stock in there at the time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What time in the night was this stock taken?
Answer. About 10 o'clock.
Question. Did you hear the Indians?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you get up and go out?
Answer. Yes, sir; we had not gone to bed.
Question. What did you see when you went out?
Answer. I saw a bunch of Indians.
Question. How many in the bunch?
Answer. Looked to be 25.
Question. I understood you to say a while ago, in answre to a question
by Mr. Prickett, that you did not see the Indians.
Answer. I meant to say that I did not see them when we followed them.
Question. Then you did see them when they drove the stock off?
Answer. Yes, sir; my brother Frank Askins, was guarding them at the
time.
Question. Where is he?
Answer. In Atascosa County, Tex., south of San Antonio about 35 miles.
Question. Now, what did the Indians do when they drove the horses off?
Answer. They jut drove them off.
Question. I mean did they tear down any fence or anything of that
kind?
Answer. Yes, sir; they tore down the bars and let the horses out.
Question. Did you see them drive them out?
Answer. Yes, sir; they whipped us away from the horses.
Question. What with?
Answer. Guns.
Question. Did your party have guns?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did your party do any shooting?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long did the skirmish last?
Answer. About a half hour.
Answer. Was any of your party hurt?
Answer. Yes, sir; a man was killed.
Question. What was his name?
Answer. John Hines.
Question. Did Hines live there?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How far from there did he live?
Answer. About 4 miles.
Question. What was he doing there that night?
Answer. We were forted up there from the Indians.
Question. Have you named all the parties who were there that night?
Answer. No, sir; I can't think of all of them; there was a man by the
name of Ellis - he lives at Atascosa, Tex.; and Lite Lawhorn - he is
in western Texas somewhere; and Mose Pierce - I don't know where he
is.
Question. Is that all you remember?
Answer. No, sir; Bud Walker and Tom Walker and Joe Walker; Joe and Tom
are dead.
Question. You say this skirmish lasted about a half hour?
Answer. Yes, sir; they whipped us, and we run into the house and staid
[sic] there until after daylight.
Question. What was done with the body of John Hines?
Answer. He was buried; he was killed right in the door.
Question. Then, after daylight, what did you do?
Answer. Crowd gathered up and followed them.
Question. How much of a crowd?
Answer. Eight or ten men.
Question. Give their names.
Answer. Mose Pierce-don't know where he is; Wright Lawhorn-he is near
Murphy, Tex.; Frank and Charles Askins-they live in Atascosa County,
Tex.; two of the Lane boys-one was named Erwin Lane.
Question. Do you remember any others?
Answer. No, sir; I don't believe I do.
Question. How far did you follow them?
Answer. Nearly two whole days; we followed them until we found out
that Capt. Benevetas, with the Texas Rangers, were following them; we
followed them about 35 miles.
Question. You spoke of finding a dead Indian on the trail?
Answer. He was crippled.
Question. What became of the Indian?
Answer. He was killed.
Question. Right there at the time?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Your party found him crippled and killed him?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How far from your ranch did you find this Indian?
Answer. About 3 or 4 miles.
Question. Then you followed them the best part of two days after that?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And kept on until you found out the rangers were following
them, and then you turned back?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Where did you recover this mare?
Answer. She came back next day.
Question. Was any of the other horses recovered?
Answer. Only the colt.
Question. So your net loss was 35 mares and 1 stallion?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You never received pay for any of these horses?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. It is alleged in your petition here that the Comanche
Indians took these horses. Do you really know what tribe of Indians it
was?
Answer. To the best of my belief it was the Comanches.
Question. I am not asking you "to the best of your belief"; I am
asking you if you know they were Comanches.
Answer. I think they was.
Question. Were you sufficiently acquainted with the habits,
characteristics, and customs of the Comanche Indians to identify these
as Comanches?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. This Indian that you saw next day, what kind of an Indian
was he?
Answer. I think he was a Comanche.
Question. Were you sufficiently acquainted with the Comanche Indians
to identify this one?
Answer. I think so.
Question. You are pretty well satisfied it was a Comanche?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you ever see or hear of these horses after that time?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What became of this Indian after he was killed?
Answer. I guess the buzzards eat him up.
Question. You left him there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you see anything of him on your return?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. In your petition you allege that these horses were worth $50
each; why do you know say they were worth $100?
Answer. That is what the horses were worthy; they cost that; I put
them in at $50 on the advice of my attorneys to put them in at a low
value.
Question. So you put them now at what they were worth?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you think these mares would have sold for that on the
market?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. At auction?
Answer. I don't know about that, but they would at private sale.
Question. How much did you say this stallion was worth?
Answer. $500
Question. What did you put him in at?
Answer. $300
Question. Now you say he was worth $500?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. By whom do you expect to prove this claim?
Answer. Charles Askins, Lavernia, Tex. and Frank Askins, Pleasanton,
Tex.; Jim Musgraves, Lampasas, Tex.
Question. You don't know whether you will get the testimony of the
other witnesses or not?
Answer. I did not think there was any use of it.. There is George
Hines-he lives at Pleasanton, Tex.-and he would be a good witness for
me; his father was killed in the fight and he lost some horses at the
time.
Question. Do you know whether or not the Comanche Indians were in
amity with the United States at the time of the raid?
Answer. I do not.
Question. This happened on land belonging to the State of Texas?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you know whether or not that property was assessed for
taxes for the year 1865?
Answer. It was not.
Question. Have you ever given more than one power of attorney?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Are you the sole owner of the claim and the only person
interested in it?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You have never assigned or transferred it to anyone?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you or any of the men there do anything to provoke the
Indians to take your horses?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you seek private satisfaction or revenge on them in any
way?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is this claim included in any other case on file?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is any other claim included in the case now under
investigation?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Are you a white man without Indian blood?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Mr. Askins, you say you are now 45 years of age?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. At the time of this loss in 1865 you were 10 years of age?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How did it come that you were the owner of this property at
that time?
Answer. It was property I got from my father's estate.
Question. Was he living or dead at the time?
Answer. Living.
Question. Did he make a division of his property before his death?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long before?
Answer. About three years.
Question. And you got this property as your share at the age of 10
years-when you were 10 years old?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did he give you any bill of sale or any kind of papers?
Answer. No, sir; he just divided up the property between the children.
Question. And that is your explanation of how you came to be the owner
of this property at that time, when the loss occurred?
Answer. Yes, sir.